How to sell a deceased person’s car, with or without probate

• 50states in the table, each row read from the agency page or the statute
• 30 daysthe usual wait after death before an affidavit works (5 in Indiana, 40 in California and Nevada)
• $20,000 to $400,000the spread of small-estate limits, from North Carolina and New Jersey to Wyoming
• 22states where a title can name a transfer-on-death beneficiary and skip all of this

Letters testamentary or an affidavit: which paper you need

Alabama’s title office draws the line in two sentences. If the estate “has been or will be probated”, the person signing for it “must provide copy of letters testamentary or letters of administration issued by the probate court.” If it “has not and will not be probated”, they bring “a Next of Kin Affidavit (MVT 5-6) and a copy of the deceased owner’s death certificate” (Alabama Department of Revenue). Every state splits the same way; only the names and the limits change.

Letters come from the court. Maryland’s guide explains that when a will names an executor and “the will is accepted by a court, the court will issue what are known as ‘letters of administration or testamentary.’” Without a will, “A court will appoint an administrator (like an executor)” (Maryland MVA). Letters let that person sign the title for any car at any value, and in Kentucky they are the only route, because its title office says “ALL will must be probated” (KYTC).

The affidavit is the short route. You swear, usually before a notary, that the estate is small enough, that enough days have passed, that no personal representative has been appointed, and that you are entitled to the car. Nebraska’s version has you swear that personal property “does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000)” and that “thirty (30) days have elapsed since death” (Nebraska DMV). The wait is 30 days in most states, 40 in California and Nevada, 10 in Colorado and 5 in Indiana.

A will that nobody intends to probate does not block the affidavit in most states, but it has to come along. Oklahoma asks for a “Copy of the decedent’s unprobated will, naming the applicant as beneficiary of the referenced vehicle” (Service Oklahoma Form 405); Louisiana wants “a copy of the will or a notarized statement of its contents relevant to vehicles” (Louisiana OMV).

Count the whole estate, not just the car. Illinois carves vehicles out: its $150,000 limit excludes “motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State”, and an affidavit used only for a title transfer works “without consideration of the value of the decedent’s personal estate” (755 ILCS 5/25-1).

Small-estate and heirship routes in all 50 states

The route a spouse or heir uses when nobody is opening probate, the limit that goes with it, and the agency page or statute we read it from on October 24, 2026. Dollar figures are the whole estate less liens unless the row says otherwise. State names open that state’s selling page; form names open our walkthrough where we have one.

Limits move. California’s REG 5 still prints a 2022 figure, Colorado’s cap changes every year, Kansas nearly doubled its cap in 2023, and Delaware’s statute now reads $50,000. Read the current form before you swear to a number. Several states give the surviving spouse a higher limit (Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina) or none at all (Minnesota, Wisconsin).

Then sell it: private buyer, dealer or instant offer

Once the paper is right, the car sells like any other, with the usual trade-offs. A private buyer will usually pay the most for a clean, running car, and a dealer that wants the model may come close. An instant offer pays less for a good car but asks the least of a family that is far away or short on time. What your car is worth and trade-in vs. selling privately help you price it first.

Whoever sells must be the person the state lets sign, and the states disagree about whether an heir may sell before retitling. Alaska says “The successor must title the vehicle in their own name first before selling or transferring it” (Alaska DMV). Florida takes the opposite view for a spouse, who “shall not be required to obtain a certificate of title in his or her own name, but may assign to the transferee the certificate of title which was issued to the decedent” (Fla. Stat. 319.28). Wisconsin lets a spouse “sell the vehicle(s) by signing their name on the title (as seller)” (Wisconsin DMV), while South Carolina’s small-estate affidavit “does not allow a person to sign the title to the vehicle to another person” (SCDMV). Check your row in the table before you list the car.

The odometer statement is part of this. Iowa lets only the affiant heir sign it, and only on the state’s form, because the heir “has limited authority to act as the decedent’s agent for odometer disclosure statement purposes only” (Iowa DOT). Which cars need a mileage statement at all is in odometer disclosure exemptions by state.

For the instant-offer route, our partner Peddle gives a free, no-obligation offer online, and you have a week to accept it. The online offer is the amount paid at pickup if the car matches what you described; the driver checks the car, completes the title-transfer paperwork and hands you a check. Pickup is free, and the whole sale usually takes a few days. Non-running cars get offers too. For an estate, two things decide the sale: the loan must be paid off first, and the title paperwork has to show who may sign. On a deceased owner’s title, its help center says you “may be able to provide additional documentation in order to sell the vehicle with the title as is”, and that if the carrier cannot proceed, “you’ll need to transfer the title to your own name before you are able to sell your vehicle to us” (Peddle help center). So an executor holding letters, or a spouse in a state like Florida or Wisconsin, can get an instant offer and settle the paperwork with the carrier once it is accepted; an heir in a state like Alaska retitles first and then sells. Peddle does not buy motorcycles, RVs or boats.

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